The Other Dream Team

This documentary profiles the talented athletes who played for Lithuania's national basketball team in the 80s and early 90s and became emblems of the nation's growing independence from the Soviet Union. Director Marius Markevicius chooses his source material indiscriminately, using flagrantly biased new clips from the U.S. and scenes from Rocky IV to illustrate Soviet culture. American sports journalists get as much screen time as do Lithuanian politicians and the athletes themselves, who speak with greater authority on the subjects at hand. The movie sticks to the basic facts and patronizes viewers with plentiful music cues and other emotional pointers; you’d be better off learning this story from an old issue of Sports Illustrated. In English and subtitled Lithuanian.
ByBen Sachs